A federal agency struggled to give away millions in subsidies to businesses it claimed suffered due to Freedom Convoy protests in downtown Ottawa. Access To Information records show organizers extended deadlines and went door to door pleading with business owners to apply for cheques..“The team is reaching out,” read one staff email at the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. The Agency was mandated to give away $20 million. Final payouts totaled $12.9 million despite attempts to encourage take-up of subsidies that averaged $11,494..According to Blacklock's Reporter, local authorities in Ottawa claimed severe economic losses resulted from a month-long truckers’ blockade outside Parliament. “I can tell you from my vantage point they were very significant,” said Michel Tremblay, CEO of an economic development group Invest Ottawa, who testified March 14 at the House of Commons finance committee..Invest Ottawa cited a March 11 story by CBC News that claimed the protest “cost downtown Ottawa millions per day” based on estimates from retail analysts. “Total economic damage may range from about $44 million up to $200 million,” the CBC claimed..However, payouts were a fraction of the figure. The Development Agency had offered to pay businesses “directly and negatively impacted by the demonstrations” for any losses including “utilities, insurance, bank charges, loss of inventory (e.g. spoiled food), wages, rent and other extraordinary costs related to the repair or protection of a business due to the demonstrations,” according to terms of compensation..Access To Information records showed the extraordinary lengths taken to make payouts as high as possible. The final figure came 36% under budget..The Development Agency first extended a deadline for applications from April 30 to May 15. “They have extended the application deadline by a couple of weeks,” wrote staff..Organizers were then instructed to “go door to door to boost awareness and increase applications from business owners.” Businesses whose applications were rejected received personal phone calls with unsolicited help on how to fill out forms. “The team is reaching out by telephone to these applicants to move their file along as a deficiency in their application was noted,” wrote staff..A grant guide was originally published in English and French. Organizers had it “translated to Arabic, Vietnamese and simple Chinese to ensure those business owners for whom English or French is not their first language may understand the eligibility.”.A similar aid program for businesses purportedly impacted by a protest in Windsor, Ontario was also inflated. The Windsor fund budgeted $2.5 million in compensation for 240 business owners. Only 60 successfully applied for total payments of $462,469, according to a cabinet briefing note.
